The Blue Lady
by danceswpenguins9
Summary: Starts out from Max's p.o.v but quickly starts to center around Alec & Ben. OC & snake cult involvement. ABANDONED and unfinished. Sadly.
1. Chapter 1

All of this is written in the PRESENT time, meaning in the SECOND season of the show, unless marked** (flashback)** at the top. **Flashbacks** occur in the FIRST season of the show.

The Blue Lady's Secrets

Chapter One: The Nightmare

* * *

The man chasing her was getting even closer, and she forced herself to move faster. The breathe was hitching in her throat, she couldn't breathe fast enough. She was running so fast that she was afraid she'd careen out of control, and fall on her face.

The surroundings blurred as she sprinted, focusing on a point far ahead of her. The man fell behind, but she kept going. She got to a point where there weren't any thoughts, just the continual motion of her legs, which felt like leaden weights.

Something was wrong. Something had been wrong for so long…And the problem was in her, every day it was growing stronger. But for now she just ran from it, avoiding any thought of it. Just like He had before her…

* * *

Max was about to leave Joshua's house when she heard a strange, guttural noise coming from upstairs. She faced the stairs leading upwards, listening intently. Alec had crashed there for the night, and he seemed to be the one making noise. Max climbed the stairs quickly and opened the door immediately to her right. Alec was there, alright. And as she watched, he groaned in his sleep, turning over and clenching a handful of the bed sheet in his fist. Still, he couldn't awaken from the dream, even though it didn't belong to him.

_ The girl stared up at him, her eyes wide and scared and surprised…Of course she was surprised! Who thought she could, or would, die? But now, he thought ironically, it made sense. Everything Good in the world was killed off by the bad. And she was, after all, Good. He pushed as hard as he could on the bullet wound in her abdomen, but he knew it didn't matter. She wasn't like him, she was ordinary…_

_ She was ordinary, and she had the power to save lives. He was something more, something superior, yet he ended lives. Another irony. _

_ The blood was running out of her too fast. She knew by the grim look on his face, and tears were flooding out of those scared eyes. He couldn't help but cry too. Why did this have to happen, now? Why couldn't he save her, since he couldn't even save himself?_

_ She reached up slowly to his face, wiping away the tears and blood from the deep gashes in his left cheek. She struggled to sit up, but the deadly wound was too much and she fell back to the ground. He was shaking as he bent down to her face._

_ He didn't know what he was doing, but she seemed to. She put her lips against his, and it was strange to him, unknown. A kind of affection he had never experienced. _

Alec struggled more in his sleep as the dream progressed, tossing and turning back and forth, his fists jerking at the sheets around him as he tried to wake up. Max watched for a moment, in wonder. She jumped at the unearthly scream that came from his mouth, and in a second she was standing over him, jerking him by the shoulders.

"Wake up! Wake the hell up, Alec!" She yelled over him, listening to the nonsense words he was muttering. His eyes snapped open, and he grabbed her wrists instinctively, twisting them, quite painfully, so that she was defenseless.

"ALEC!" She shouted, struggling to break the iron grip he now had on her arms. His eyes were open, but she could tell from the cloudy haze in them that he was still in his dream.

"Alec…" she panted, wincing at the pain. His grip loosened a bit, he blinked dazedly up at her.

And then, all at once, he woke up. His hands dropped from hers, and his mouth gaped open in surprise.

"About time you nimrod…" She panted, examining the marks that would soon turn to bruises on her wrists.

"I...I dunno why I did that…" he said uncertainly and slowly. "I'm sorry about that…I guess it's just a reaction…You know?" Alec looked at her pleadingly.

She glared, but agreed. "Yes, it's a Manticore reaction alright. But I couldn't wake you up. That must've been some dream…" She rubbed her wrists, still looking at Alec ruefully.

He reached to the end of the bed, grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head. "Dream? Nah, it wasn't…I mean, it wasn't really important." He stood up.

"Where are you going?" Max said, moving back so that he could cross the room to get his shoes. "I thought you were gonna stay here for tonight…"

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go take a walk." He said slowly. Max suddenly got even more suspicious. This was entirely unlike Alec. Strange nightmares, midnight walks, and weirdest of all, he actually being somewhat civilized to her.

"Right. Well now I know for sure something is wrong… You've been having these nightmares for a while. So now you're going to tell me why," Max got in his way, so that he couldn't leave the room. Alec looked impatiently down at her.

"Nothing is wrong! I just have bad dreams sometimes, that's all!" He insisted. "Besides, since when do you care if something is wrong with me?"

"I…I do too care if something is wrong with you!" She said, her brown eyes surprised. Alec and Max always disagreed; it was a rule of theirs that had been in place since they met at Manticore. But that didn't mean she was careless towards him.

"Oh yeah. That's why is took you so long to remove the explosive from my head that White put in!" Alec said angrily.

"How the hell was I supposed to know that there was a bomb in your head?" She shrieked.

"Well, why else would I be trying to kill other Manticore transgenics? Do you think I enjoyed the thought of murdering my own kind?" He hissed icily. "It was the only way to get White to take the damn thing out!"

"Whatever, can we please not discuss this now!" Max said just as bitchy, flipping her brown hair angrily over her shoulder.

"Fine. We won't discuss anything now," He said and shoved roughly past her. She let him go, for now.

NEXT DAY

Max left Joshua's house after her fight with Alec, getting back to her apartment late and taking a catnap before sunrise. The next day at work was long, boring…and guilty. She kept remembering Alec's words, for some weird reason. And it disturbed her that he felt like she didn't care…

She remembered the time Alec had first shown up at Jam Pony, claiming that he needed a job and had decided to work somewhere where he already had "friends". Max had coldly told him that she was not his friend, and that he shouldn't think of her as such.

Her guilt increased. Perhaps she had given Alec the wrong impression… But he was such a selfish jerk, she thought! He never cared about anyone else's feelings, including hers. So it made sense that she should not have to care about him!

This reasoning didn't help her at all, however. She wondered about Alec, and if maybe there was something more to him than just a self-serving, transgenic pain in the ass. After all, he was Ben's twin…The two of them had to have more in common than just looks.

Ah, there it is, she thought. The reason for her guilt. Being cruel to Alec and seeing his hurt face reminded her of Ben. And it shouldn't. Alec wasn't Ben, she told herself firmly.

"Bip, bip, BIP!" A voice suddenly screeched in Max's ear, ripping her out of her thoughts. "The clock is running, I'm paying you for your time, and YOU ARE STANDING HERE, DOING NOTHING!" Normal, Max's boss, screamed at her from two inches in front of her face.

"Sorry, Normal…you have a run for me?" She asked lazily.

"Yes, this package needs to be delivered to City Sector 4 in fifteen minutes. So, bip, bip, bip! HURRY!" He chucked a light, cardboard package at her and frantically scanned his clipboard.

"Address is 909 Skird. Apartment complex H, #114. GET GOING!" with those final words, Normal ran off to yell at two more of his young employees who were standing in the corner, talking. Max sighed, grabbed the package for delivery, and wheeled her bike out the door.

Max finished some more deliveries before returning to Jam Pony and clocking out. Her work day finished, she decided to head over to Logan's and see if he had any interesting news.

When she arrived at his apartment, he was seated in front of the computer, impatiently scrolling down with the mouse.

"What cha working on?" she asked from the doorway.

"Something interesting…" He said slowly, his attention focused on the screen.

Max walked over to stand behind him, looking at his work.

"Wo!" She said with admiration. "Whose data is this?"

"I hacked into one of White's men's computer. He has a lot of interesting stuff on here about what White has been up to. The last transgenic they attempted to capture was that drone model last week…" Logan explained.

"Yeah, and I kind of ruined that for them," Max said proudly, smiling. "So what are White and his team up to now?"

"According to this guy, they've been following a suspected Manticore escapee for the last week. They aren't sure if she is Manticore or not, though. Supposedly she fights pretty well. And when she tried to run from White, he described her as a "blur". You know as well as I do, the only kind of people that blur when they run are genetically engineered ones. But they haven't been able to locate her in Manticore's databases. Which is weird. Manticore kept very detailed records of all transgenics there, and she isn't in them. Anyway…Her description is…here," Logan found the file he was looking for and clicked it. A picture of a pretty, young woman filled the left side of the screen. It was in poor quality, black and white and very unfocused. The picture seemed to have been taken from a security camera from above the girl's head. The text to the right read:

Suspect No. 574.

First name: Mary Last Name: Unknown

Possible X5 or X6 series Manticore project.

Estimated age: 17.

Physical description: 5'5". 133 lbs. Blonde hair. Eye color blue.

Last seen: Roslin County Liquor Store. (Address 812 102nd St. Sector 5.)

If captured: Immediate genetic blueprinting ordered. Identification as series X-, if possible. Handle with extreme care. Euthanasia to be determined.

Latest measures for capture: Warrants for arrest distributed among local police departments. Flyers containing description posted.

Logan turned to look at Max. "You think this is an X5 or X6?" He asked her. Max seemed uncertain for a moment.

"I dunno. Like you said, it's weird that you can't find her in Manticore's databases. But she has to be a transgenic, judging by the way she fights and blurs when she runs…" Max concluded slowly.

"Yeah. Well there's only one way to find out," Logan said, giving her a mischievous grin.

Max smiled as well. "Are we gonna spy on the police radio transmission again?"

"Yep," He replied. "As soon as they find her, we'll know. Then you can do what you do best."

"Awesome. Call me when its time. I'm sure she won't be able to avoid them forever; eventually I'll have to help her out. In the mean time, I'm gonna be at Crash with Cindy. Just beep me," She said, leaving the room.

* * *

Mary was tired, and weak…Not to mention dirty. But most of all, she was hungry. The blonde girl walked down the aisle in the grocery store, scanning the food for something edible that she could afford.

However, it would appear that the man was not going to give up on her so easily. She heard his voice from behind the shelf, coming from the next aisle.

"I'm looking for a teenage girl…she's about this tall, slim, pretty blonde hair? You seen her?" He said, his voice dripping persuasively.

"No, I am afraid not," An elderly woman's voice answered. The girl panicked. He was still after her.

All she wanted was food, rest! She had done nothing wrong! Why was he chasing her so? She strode down the aisle, carefully looking up the one next to her. The man was exiting it. She ran past, and down the back of the store. The metal doors in the back pushed open as an employee wheeled out a cart of packaged meet. She caught the door and slipped through it, into the back of the store.

"Hey, girl, you can't go in there! That's employees only!" The guy screamed at her. Mary didn't care. She ran now, though she was damn tired of running. She burst through the back door, sunlight shining in her eyes, and a gun in her face.

* * *

When Max showed up at Crash, a bar and night club in town, Original Cindy was there, along with Alec and Sketchy (a guy that works at Jam Pony). Alec and Sketchy were playing pool. Max sat down at the table near them, chatting with Cindy and drinking her beer. She watched as Alec beat Sketchy several times, each with more ease than the last. Finally Sketchy gave up.

"Man, you are like a pool-playing genius! How do you do that!?" Sketchy asked Alec in amazement. Alec merely shrugged and gave him an easy grin. But Max noticed the way he self consciously tugged up the collar of his jacket. Max's long hair made it easy for her to disguise the bar code on her neck that branded her as Manticore property. But Alec's bar code was not so easy to hide.

The four of them hung out for a while, talking about nothing important and wasting time, in Max's opinion. Alec drifted over to the bar several times and attempted to flirt with multiple girls there. So far he was rather unsuccessful.

It was getting pretty boring for Max, until her beeper went off in her coat pocket. She jumped, grabbed the beeper, and checked the number. It was Logan's.

"Gotta make a call," she told the rest of them, slipping away from the table and drifting over to the pay phones. She dialed the number and waited patiently until the phone was picked up.

"Speaking," Logan's gruff voice said in way of a greeting.

"Logan? Its Max," She identified herself.

"Max? Good. I just picked up on something in the transmissions. A police unit in Sector 5 arrested a girl at a grocery store. She fits the description, and put up a hell of a fight. They're holding her at the police department on 127th street," He said hurriedly.

"Thank God the police got her before White," Max breathed into the phone.

"Yeah, but you better hurry up and break her out before White's men show up to claim her," Logan warned.

"Don't worry. I'm on it," Max hung the phone up and left the bar. The thought of taking Alec to help crossed her mind, but she decided she didn't need him. Besides, they were still acting rather cold towards each other. The subject of his dream was touchy, at best.

* * *

Mary sat in the cold, metal chair, glaring at the two officers across from her. They had been interrogating her for a while now and she still hadn't spoken. At least, she hadn't spoken much more than an insult.

The two idiots seemed to think she had committed a robbery. This was bullshit, and she knew it. They seemed incompetent of grasping that fact, however.

"Come on," The first said, smiling in what he thought was a friendly way. "Just tell us what we need to know, and this can all be resolved!"

"Fuck you," She spat.

"Look," the other, fatter one said, leaning forward. "We don't want to be the bad guys here. We can help you out of this, but first you gotta help us. Okay girly?"

"I haven't done anything that I need helped out of. So I repeat: Fuck you, fatty," She hissed venomously. He sighed and leaned back.

"Aw, Phil, we aint getting nowhere," The first one told his partner. He nodded.

"Yeah. Maybe we'll just lock you up in a cell for a while. We'll come back in a few days, and see how you feel about talking then," He said wickedly.

"Fine," She said coolly.

Five minutes later, the officer named Phil was walking behind her, leading her down a row of cells. She thought about how she had come to be here, in a goddamn prison. It had started with Him. She didn't blame Him, however. But ever since they're meeting, problems had sprung up more and more in her life. What would He do now?

The officer stopped walking, pulling on her wrists. Her hands were in handcuffs behind her, and he was standing close to her back.

"You're a pretty girl, you know…" He breathed, his breathe hot and sticky on her neck. She grimaced in disgust.

"And you're a fat pig, you know," She quipped back. She felt his hands on her body. She was shaking, afraid and just plain grossed out. She felt her muscles tensing, and thought, oh there it is again. The problem in her. It was pretty strong now.

Mary couldn't take his groping anymore, and she struck. Swiftly wiping his feet out from under him with her left leg, she whirled around. Her right foot connected with the side of his torso, and he was on the ground. She jumped onto his back, wrapping the chain of the handcuffs around his neck from behind. She twisted her hands around, tightening the chain to choke him.

She glared at the back of his head, listening to the gasping noises coming from him. But then the red lights around the cell block came on. Had she been caught? No. The alarm was going off. She heard the wailing of it from the front of the station. This wasn't good.

Choking the guy was taking too long, so she grabbed his head and lifted it. She smashed it down into the cement, hard. And he was motionless.

* * *

Max had stolen an officer's uniform from a cop on the street. She had left him, partially nude, in a back alley and dressed in his jacket and boots. She supposed she should feel guilty, but actually, it seemed quite funny. Thus far, she had managed to sneak through most of the police station undetected. Until she accidentally opened a door she wasn't supposed to. Oops.

The terminal in the wall next to the door clicked on. It loaded up a page which demanded Max to sign in before proceeding through the doors.

Max attempted to hack it, but failed, and the alarm went off. She raced through the doors, taking out two of the cops in the hallway beyond. Following the signs, she quickly found her way to the jail cells. Just as she entered, the blonde girl she was looking for stood up from the floor.

A police officer was dead on the floor underneath the girl. The blonde turned around, her hands still handcuffed. She took one look at Max, in the uniform, and ran. Max ran after her, keeping a good distance on her.

LATER THAT DAY

"What do you mean, 'she got away'!" Logan exclaimed, dumbfounded.

"I mean," Max explained tersely. "I lost her. She was running through the back of the police department and I just…lost her. It was like a maze of freaking hallways back there." Max stared angrily at the floor, upset with herself for letting the girl get away. Max wanted to help her, she honestly did! But she first needed to at least speak to her!

"Well that's just great…I don't suppose you know anything about where she went?" Logan asked hopefully.

"Dunno," Max replied. "But I did manage to swipe these." She threw a stack of files onto Logan's desk. "They're all on her. They should be useful, right…?"

Logan grabbed the files. "Of course they'll be useful!" He flipped through them. The first contained information on the girl's latest movements. Where she had been living, where she had been spotted lately, people she was seen associating with, etc.

The next file had several black and white photos of the girl taken from security cameras all around town. The last file was the most interesting, however. A genetic blueprint of the girl's DNA. Logan opened it, and began reading it. Shortly his mouth fell open.

"What is it?" Max asked suspiciously, leaning forward. Without a word, Logan threw the file across the desk.

Max quickly scanned it before her mouth fell open as well. "She's not Manticore!? That is impossible! She killed the guard with her hands still handcuffed! And I saw her ran, she blurred! She has to be Manticore!"

"You read the file…" Logan said weakly. "Her DNA is completely human. No cat or avian DNA. And there are no extra base pair codings, either. She's normal."

"No way…" Max refused to believe it. "Wait, what about this?!" She had found a small notation at the bottom of the paper. "It says that a second blood sample had to be taken! The first was corrupt, because the DNA had XY chromosomes!" She tossed the file back at Logan, satisfied with her find.

"Well, they must have mixed her blood sample up with someone else's. There's no way she has DNA with XY chromosomes. She's definitely female," Logan said, laughing a bit.

"But…" Max looked disappointed.

"It happens all the time, Max. A tired technician mixed up samples. No big deal," Logan said gently.

"She can't be ordinary…there's no way…" Max said. Logan merely shrugged.

"Whatever…I've been up since like four this morning. I gotta get some sleep," He said, noticing that the clock read 12:04 AM.

"Sure…You mind if I take these with?" Max said, motioning to the files.

"Go right ahead," Logan got up, switching off his computer.

An hour later, Max was sitting at her kitchen table, eating ice-cream. She had the files spread out in front of her and was pouring over every detail. Currently, her attentions were focused on the file of pictures.

There were several dozen pictures of the girl, in places like local churches, libraries, supermarkets, and even a bar. None seemed important. Max flipped through them, tossing ones she had already viewed upside down. Only something about that last photograph had made her stomach flip. She picked it back up, surveying the faces.

There! Her eyes widened…

The picture showed the girl walking down a crowded sidewalk, her hood pulled up to protect her from the rain. There were many people behind her and around her. But only one of the people following the girl was familiar to Max. And he had his eyes right on the back of her head.

"Ben…" Max whispered aloud, her voice barely audible.


	2. Chapter 2

The Blue Lady's Secrets

Chapter Two: The Plan

"This is…impossible," Logan said the next morning, after Max had shown up at his apartment and shared her discovery.

"It's not impossible. This photo is dated WAY before Manticore burnt down. Before I even saw Ben again. And it can't be Alec in it," Max said reasonably.

"But…Why would Ben be following her?" Logan asked, confused.

"Dunno…But see, he's in this picture too," Max pointed to the picture that was taken from the front of a subway car. The girl named Mary was seated in the front, and Ben was barely visible in the back of the car, partially concealed by a crowd of people.

"Well, let's look at the bright side of this," Logan said.

"Oh, and what's that?" Max said, smiling wryly.

"If she saw Ben before he died, we might be able to find her again using Alec. They look identical," Logan explained.

"I guess," Max agreed reluctantly. Right about now, getting Alec involved was the last thing she wanted to do.

**

* * *

(FLASHBACK)**

Ben walked calmly down the center aisle of the church until he reached the statue of his Blue Lady. He kneeled in front of it, bowing his head and wondering if she would come see him this time…

He had been trying to find her for so long. No matter how many of her servants he killed, she never revealed herself. But this, he reasoned, was because they weren't loyal enough. No. They couldn't be. If they were, she would protect them from death. Just like she would protect him… Wouldn't she?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices. One male, one female. Ben's ears tuned to the noise and he rose to his feet. They were coming through the door, he realized. He concealed himself from sight, but still lingered near his altar.

"-C-can't help me!" A man's stuttering words could be heard, his voice frantic and hoarse.

"Yes, I _can_, Michael. You are not beyond help!" A much younger woman's words replied. Her voice was soft and persuasive, and Ben peered out from his hiding place to see the speakers.

The man who had spoken was weak looking. He was trembling all over, his face unshaven and his eyes watering. The woman was walking beside him, her hand on his arm as though she guided him. She was medium height, with blonde hair and a trusting face.

"N-no…You don't…You can't mean that!"

"Michael, I-"

"You don't know what I've done!" He hissed, jerking his arm away. "You don't know…you wouldn't want to help me if you knew!"

"You'd be surprised the people I have helped. The people I will continue to help. People better, and people worse than you." She serenely looked at the frightened man, her young face somehow wise and comforting.

"Mary…" He breathed. "You can't save everyone you know…" He chuckled nervously at that. "Some people are beyond it…"

"I've already said that you are not beyond help," She said sternly. With that, she again placed her hand on the man's arm and led him to the back of the church, and through a door.

Ben breathed out quickly, unaware that he had even been holding his breathe.

(END FLASHBACK)

* * *

Max had been looking for Alec for the good part of the day now. Finally, she had found him spread out on Joshua's couch. His eyes were transfixed on the television, which was currently showing dancing walruses and a rather skanky looking woman, and drool was starting to slip out of his mouth. Max had caught his attention, though it had taken several attempts, and managed to explain most of what she needed him to know. She breathlessly told him about Ben and Mary, until he held up a hand for her to stop. 

"Wait. Wait. Wait," he said slowly.

"Look, I-" Max began.

"WAIT! Wait wait!" Alec repeated. "You honestly want me to help you find Ben's girlfriend?…my psychotic, dead, twin Ben who was murdering people, ripping their teeth out, and then sacrificing them? THAT BEN!?" He stared at her like she was insane.

"Okay, first of all, he wasn't a psycho! He was just…confused," Max said. Alec rolled his eyes but said nothing. "Second of all, she wasn't his _girlfriend_! He was following her or something…"

"_Oh_, he was just following her? Well that makes it all better," he said sarcastically. "Sounds like stalking to me, though. In which case, I don't think she'd be too happy if she thought he was gone and I suddenly showed up," Alec concluded with a smirk.

"I don't know about that…Look, Whites men are after her, Alec. And right now you're the best chance we've got at getting her to trust us. So how about helping me out?" She tried her hardest to sound pitiful and needy and keep her face pouty. It worked.

"Fine," Alec sighed slowly. "I'll help you find the damn girl, just stop looking at me like that."

"Great!" She said happily.

"Where exactly do you want me to go looking…?"

"Well…Where do most people go who want to get lost?" Max asked him, already knowing the answer. He thought for a moment before the answer dawned on him.

"…Terminal City?" Alec groaned. "Aw, Maxie, you know I hate that place! It smells like cheese."

Max merely gave him a sarcastic look before handing over Mary's file. He opened it, scanning over the boring information until he arrived at the girl's picture. His throat seemed to tighten and his hands began shaking all on their own. He knew those eyes. And the fear in them was all too familiar.

**

* * *

(FLASHBACK) **

Sleep was the only thing on Mary's mind when she crawled into bed. It had been a long week, and she was exhausted.

Unfortunately for her, however, sleep was something she would be denied. Just as she was drifting out of consciousness, she heard a small noise from the corner of her bedroom, near the door. A violent shiver rocketed up her spine, and she sat straight up in bed. The freshly washed curls of her hair fell into her face, and she hurriedly pushed them back, squinting into the darkness. It was raining tonight, but the noise had been very different from the pattering of raindrops.

A freezing cold sensation fell over her when she realized she wasn't alone in her bedroom. There was someone standing in the shadows.

"Wh-who are you," she managed to gasp. She wished her voice could be stronger, more powerful. But it wasn't. It was the voice of a scared little girl, because that is what she had become.

The stranger breathed her name. "Mary…?" She didn't reply.

"That man…at the church… Michael. You said you'd help him," He accused.

"I…yes…" was all she managed to murmur in response. The stranger took a few steps forward, and the pale moonlight from the window washed over him. Half his face was illuminated by it, half in shadow.

Mary was surprised at how young and attractive he was. He also looked reasonably healthy, if not a little tired. Water dripped into his face from the wet tips of his hair, and his hazel eyes were scarily dark and stormy. His actual appearance, however, was not nearly as frightening as when he had been cloaked in the shadows, a fact that allowed some of the fear to leave Mary. She could almost feel the panicky little girl leaving her.

"Who are you?" She repeated, her voice stronger.

"Ben," He said softly, offering no last name. She nodded.

"And what do you want, Ben?" Her voice was as soft as his, but challenging.

"I…I've done bad things too," He said meekly. Some of the moodiness in his eyes was replaced by guilt. "And I'm sorry…" he said, his voice barely audible. He looked at her like a little boy expecting punishment. She moved to the edge of the bed, setting her bare feet down onto the cold carpet. He took a step backward, as though afraid she might get too close.

"What have you done?" The question came out of her mouth on its own, because this conversation was all too familiar to Mary. There were always people confessing, needing to know if what they had done was alright. Never before had they shown up like this, however.

"I killed." He stated simply. She shivered again, because now the 'young man' had become the 'young murderer' in her bedroom.

"Why?" She asked back, just as simply. Why, why why… He looked at her like the answer was obvious. But she silently thought, well this is his chance. His chance to make up the excuse, to write it all off in hopes I'll make it better.

"It's what I'm supposed to do," He said finally. "It's what I was made to do."

"No one is made to kill," She whispered, getting to her feet and taking a step towards him. Again, he moved backwards from her as if he wanted to maintain the distance between them.

"I was," He said angrily. "They trained me to, and now I have…" His voice was low and frustrated.

"Trained you?" she repeated. "Were you a soldier?"

His eyes brightened when she said that, because he was happy she understood. "Yes."

"Well then it is understandable you had to kill, it was your job." She said. She had talked to many soldiers at the church, all guilt ridden and haunted by their memories of death and dying.

"But what if it wasn't an assignment? What if it was to find someone?" He asked quickly.

"I…I don't underst-" Mary began to say, but was interrupted by a noise at the front of her apartment. Ben turned his head to the noise.

"Who is that?" He demanded, his eyes focused on the bedroom door. Someone was coming through the apartment, he had heard the key turn in the lock.

"I don't know," She said slowly. "But you should go, you can see me later at the-"

"Mary!?" Roch's voice called from the living room. Mary's eyes widened at the sound of her boyfriend's voice. What was he doing here, now?

"Please, go!" She said, suddenly frantic, to Ben. Her eyes pleaded with his. He looked even more aggravated, if that was possible.

"Mary?" Roch asked again, as the door opened. He stood in the doorway, taking in the scene in front of him. Mary standing there in a lace camisole and baggy pajama pants, and some guy in a leather jacket glaring at him but backing up at the same time.

"Roch, look, this isn't-" Mary tried desperately to explain, but was interrupted again.

"Who the hell is this? What the fuck is going on!" He demanded, crossing the room in three quick strides and grabbing her arm quite painfully to wrench her around to face him. Ben's eyes flashed dangerously at the gasp of pain that left her mouth.

"Nothing just…" She looked at Ben again, desperately. "Please go, Ben. I promise I can help, just…please go!"

"Yeah, go; get the hell out of here!" Roch yelled at Ben before looking at Mary. "We have some things to discuss, don't we Mary?"

"Yes…" she said quietly, forcing herself to be calm. "Ben…" He seemed torn. "Go, Ben. It's alright." Why wasn't he leaving? Obviously this was not a good situation for him, why wouldn't he go!? Roch was getting more furious by the minute, and if he hung around much longer, he might catch some of the punishment. Finally he obeyed her, though angrily enough. He left her with Roch, slipping out of the window as easily as he had entered. Roch watched speechlessly as the damn guy left before turning to look at Mary.

"Who was that, darling?" He asked, the fake affection in his voice making her wish she, too, could have slipped out the window.

(END FLASHBACK)

* * *

Alec wandered mindlessly through the streets of Terminal City, silently cursing Max for making him come there. He saw no one matching the description, and after quite a while, nothing had happened. 

Well, something had happened, but it had nothing to do with Mary. A rather ugly, slutty looking woman had called to him from the opposite corner of the street that for three dollars they could get together. He had cheekily replied, "Oh, please, I think I'm worth more than just three dollars" and then had to run when the woman started chasing him. He ran not because he was afraid, but because the sight of the woman tottering after him on her high heels and threatening him with physical harm was actually pretty amusing.

After awhile, however, even taunting prostitutes and thinking up new, creative ways to insult Maxie wasn't entertaining him. He was bored stiff and there was nothing to even suggest that Mary was in Terminal City. Except, maybe, that big black van up ahead…Oops. Perhaps Alec needed to concentrate a bit more.

He stuck to the slightly more crowded inside of the sidewalk, approaching the van. It was parked in front of a large, multi-story building. He snuck down the alley beside the building, coming around back and checking the windows as he went. Finally, he found what he was looking for.

He crept back up the alley, finding his way back onto the main street before taking out his cell to call Max. As usual, there was no answer at her apartment, so he beeped her. When would she catch up to the times and buy a damn cell phone? He thought, frustrated.

Minutes passed, and Alec waited impatiently, kicking the brick wall of the store he was in front of. Finally his cell rang.

"Max?" He answered it immediately.

"Yeah? Did you find her?" Max asked just as hurriedly.

"Oh yeah. Unfortunately, I wasn't the first to find her. White's men have her in some abandoned office-type building down here," he explained quickly, waiting for her reaction.

"_Shit!_" she swore, and Alec grinned. Her reaction had been just as he expected. "I'll be there in…give me five minutes." She hung up without even waiting for his reply.


	3. Chapter 3

The Blue Lady's Secrets

Chapter Three: The Sewers

Max and Alec supported Mary between them as they ran. She had obviously been drugged or something, because her eyes were only partially open and she was having a lot of trouble walking.

The sewers were mercifully close, but so was a back up unit of White's. The two men were obviously not very happy that five of their friends were laying, unconscious, in the building and that Mary was getting away. Max made a split second decision.

"Look, I'm going to circle back and decoy them, okay? I'll distract them long enough for you to get her into the sewers," She said. Alec opened his mouth to object, but Max had already removed her arm from Mary's shoulder and was headed back in the direction they had came.

"I'll be fine, just get her in the sewer and head towards Joshua's house! I'll see you there!" She disappeared around the corner and Alec sighed huffily.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me then…" He said to the girl beside him, not expecting a reply. It was getting harder for her to walk, he realized, and he took more of her weight onto his shoulder.

When they finally got to the sewer grate, Alec sat the girl down to pry the top off. He stared at the ladder downwards. "Nice, Max. How the hell am I supposed to get her into the goddamn sewers?" He asked aloud. The girl was passing in and out of consciousness, and he kneeled in front of her, taking her face gently into his hands.

"Mary?" He questioned loudly. Her eyes drifted open and focused on him. "Mary, I need you to hold onto my neck, okay?" She looked at him blearily, and her mouth opened as if she was trying to say something. Her throat refused to work, however, and she merely nodded half-heartedly.

And so, Alec began the slow descend down into the sewers, with the girl riding piggy-back. He could have laughed, because this must've looked pretty comical. When he finally hit the ground, she dropped her hands from his neck. He whirled around, catching her right before she smacked into the wet cement.

"Wo, watch it!" he sat her on her butt, and she blinked lazily in the darkness. "What the hell did they give you, a horse tranquilizer?" Her eyes closed again and she tried to stand up. He supported her again, as she uncertainly got to her feet. They were hobbling along for a while before the other side effects of the tranquilizer kicked in.

She paused; dropped to her knees and promptly threw up. She hadn't eaten in a while, and it was just dry heaves, but her whole body shook with it just the same. Alec grimaced, rubbing her back as she shivered and coughed. He didn't like the pity and guilt he felt. It was too much to feel for someone he had just met…

Her coughs subsided and she breathed heavily, holding her stomach as the nausea passed. Alec waited a few more moments before again helping her to her feet.

"Don't worry about the throwing up thing…" He said awkwardly, trying to be cheerful. "You're by far the prettiest girl that's thrown up near me…Usually it's in a bar or something though…" She remained silent. How unexpected.

Their whole trip to Joshua's went something like this, with them stopping every so often when another wave of sickness hit her and then continuing onward.

Max, meanwhile, led the two men back into Terminal City before disposing of them both. She then left, hurrying to Joshua's and hoping Alec had gotten Mary there alright.

* * *

(**FLASHBACK)**

Mary sat on the couch besides Roch, her hands clasped in her lap and her head bowed in defeat. He paid her no attention, but stared at the television. The news was on, and if there was one thing Roch paid attention to, it was that. Mary listened without interest to stories about terrorism, veteran war debts, and protests on the east coast. Nothing mattered. Then a story came on that did matter.

Her head rose as she looked at the television. The newswoman was talking about a warrant out for a man's arrest in the Seattle area. "…extremely dangerous…wanted by federal agents…" Only some of the woman's words were heard by Mary, because she was too shocked to hear them all.

The man's picture was displayed on the screen. And she had recognized those brooding eyes and face.

"I'll be damned…" Roch said slowly. "I'll be damned!" The newswoman repeated her message, and Ben's face disappeared from the screen. The weather man came on, talking about seasonal rain showers. But now no one was paying attention.

"You see that, Mary? You see that!" Roch was shouting indignantly. Mary thought, of course I saw it you dumbass, I'm not freaking blind.

"You had a wanted man in your bedroom! And you were blaming me for making him leave!" Roch said, jumping up off the couch. "He's probably a rapist or something and you were having a nice little conversation with him! What the hell, Mary… Your like a damn toddler, I have to watch over you all the time!" Mary looked at him without emotion. "Next thing I know, you're going to be inviting Ted Bundy and Hannibal Lector over for Thanksgiving dinner! What the hell were you thinking?"

Mary got up and started to walk away, but that pissed Roch off even more. He grabbed her already bruised arm and twisted her back.

"Don't you walk away, do you even understand what could have happened! He could have killed you!" Roch yelled in her face.

"_You_ could have killed me," she hissed. His mouth hung open, he was taken aback. "You thought I was having an affair with him or something. Isn't that right? You didn't make him leave because you somehow knew he was dangerous, you made him leave because you were a jealous bastard!"

"I… Yes, a-alright, I shouldn't have hit you that time! It's just, I got so pissed when I saw him in your bedroom…I thought you didn't love me, honey! …But just think. Think what would have happened if I didn't show up! What would have happened then, baby? He probably would have killed you!" Roch looked at her like she was supposed to be grateful. Hah.

"He wouldn't have…" She said lowly, ripping her arm away from him. "I'm tired now…Leave." Roch stayed where he was. "Leave!" She turned around, screaming. "Just leave me alone!" He looked indecisive for a moment. She could see the rage of being ordered around on his face, but she could also see the guilt of having assumed something wrong.

"Fine, I'll leave you alone," He said, forcing himself to stay calm. "I'll leave you the hell alone if that's what you want!" He threw the remote controller at her wall; it busted and fell to the ground in pieces. "You better get the bug out of your ass, though, and get rid of the attitude!" He stalked to the front door, ripping it open and slamming it behind him.

She stared at the door for minutes after he left, trembling all over.

The television was still running, stuck on the news channel now. The warning came on again, and Ben's picture again filled the screen. She stared at it.

(END FLASHBACK)

* * *

Alec got to Joshua's house at about the same time Max did. She held open the door for him, looking worriedly down at the unconscious figure in his arms. He carried Mary into the living room, and slowly set her onto the couch.

Mary had been a small girl to begin with, but she had lost too much weight in the past few weeks. She was scarily thin; Alec could feel some of her bones sticking out through the thin material of her clothing. So after she was on the couch, he went into the kitchen and yanked open cabinet doors, searching for something she could eat that wouldn't upset her stomach too much.

Max pulled back Mary's hair and softly lifted her head up to see the back of her neck. No bar code. She wasn't Manticore. Max got up and followed Alec into the kitchen.

Joshua, meanwhile, was looking at Mary. She muttered something in her sleep. He came closer to her, curious, and poked her. She turned over a bit but didn't wake up.

Joshua looked nervously at the kitchen door, where Max and Alec had gone, before he poked Mary again. This time, she clumsily brushed his hand away and opened her eyes.

She screamed at the sight of the wolf-man above her. Joshua fell backwards onto the carpet, screaming back at her. They continued to scream in a panic for another minute before a bewildered Max and Alec ran into the room.

Mary had been in the process of climbing up and over the back of the couch when she saw Alec. She stopped, her face shocked.

"Ben?" She gasped loudly.

"Uhhh…" Alec said uncertainly, feeling an odd twinge at the hopeful look on her face.

* * *

**(FLASHBACK)**

Mary was positive Ben would be at the church. She was also positive that she should call the cops and share this little tip with them, but for some reason she couldn't. She supposed it was partly because she found him attractive. It was stupid, she knew that, but she couldn't help it. It was also because she was interested in him, and curious. Why had he come to her? Why, out of all the people, had he shown up at her apartment, apologizing to her?

She went to the church by herself, and just as expected, the doors swung open to reveal a lone figure at the front of the room. She walked down to him slowly, partly because of some fear but partly because she knew he was waiting for her.

When she got close enough, however, she saw the rips in his black shirt that revealed scrapes and deeper cuts in the flesh beneath.

"What the hell happened to you!?" She asked, alarmed at the sight of his blood and how normal he seemed.

He turned around, the same old smirk on his face, and eyed her bruised face and split lip. "I could ask you the same thing."

"I just…had an accident," She lied quickly, brushing hair into her face.

"So did I," he said, shrugging.

She pursed her lips. "Had an accident…while running from the cops?" For a moment, the self confidence he had seemed to falter, then his face became expressionless.

"Yeah, actually. I crashed my bike," he said indifferently. They stared at each other for a moment in silence. "Are you going to turn me in?" he asked finally, his eyes boring into hers with the same kind of intensity that she had come to expect from Ben. This was the question to ask, he thought. Because if she said yes, then he knew for sure it wasn't her. But if she said no…

"I'm here, aren't I?" She said. "If I was going to turn you in, I wouldn't be here." Her eyes again dropped down to the scrapes covering his left arm, and she sighed. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." She turned and went through the door on their left without waiting to see if he would follow.

She only turned around when she had reached the office bathroom, and was surprised to see that he had indeed followed her, silently. She opened the medicine cabinet, searching for bandages and disinfectant.

"So who hit you? That Roch guy?" Ben asked quietly. Mary found what she was looking for and sat it on the countertop. She looked at Ben's face, which was expressionless as always.

"Take your shirt off," She ordered, ignoring his question. He obeyed, taking it off and throwing it onto the ground. She rinsed the deeper cuts out one at a time, putting thick gauze bandages over them. They were still bleeding quite a bit, and she found it hard to believe he was so calm.

Her eyes drifted up his back, and she saw a small tattoo on the back of his neck. It looked like a bar code… She touched it lightly, wondering why the hell someone would want a tattoo of a barcode. He turned around in a flash, grabbing her hand and pulling it down angrily. "Don't," he growled.

"What's up with the tattoo?" She asked, attempting to pull her hand away from his. His grip didn't budge.

"Its how they kept track of us," He said. "Now are you done?" He nodded at the disinfectant.

"Yeah…" She said slowly, confused about what he had said. He dropped her hand finally, pulling his shirt back on over his head. She stayed where she was, sitting cross legged on the bathroom floor and looking up at him. He stared moodily at the sink for a minute. "I'm sorry, okay? I've just never seen a tattoo like that," she said meekly. He looked at her, his face softening a bit, before leaning against the countertop.

"Whatever." His tone was dismissive, and she interpreted that as a sign to switch topics.

"So the cops are after you for whoever you killed, right?" She asked. "You know, I thought you meant you killed in a war."

"No, I told you I killed to find someone," He said impatiently. "But yeah, that's why they're after me. I'm not worried though. They won't catch me."

"Pretty confident, aren't we?" She asked, laughing. She stopped abruptly, however, when she realized what the hell she was laughing about. Here she was, in a church, talking to a murderer about how he was avoiding the cops! This was insane. This was worse than insane, she thought. But he looked at her again with his piercing hazel eyes, and she realized it wasn't insane. How could he possibly be a cold blooded murderer? No, he couldn't be. No…

He merely shrugged at her comment, however. "I just know they won't. They don't know enough to catch me."

She raised her eyebrows. "Well, who is it you were trying to find?" He looked down at her, searching her face. She shivered at the way he was looking at her.

"You…I think," Ben said quietly.

* * *

(END FLASHBACK)

Mary nibbled on a cracker, staring warily at the dog guy across from her as Max explained about Manticore. This all sounded very familiar to Mary, though.

"So you're from the same place as Ben, then?" She asked, looking at Max and then the guy named Alec. "You must be, since you're his twin…" They both nodded. "Alright. I understand that. But why are they after_ me_ all of a sudden?"

Alec opened his mouth to tell her that he didn't know, but Max spoke first. "You tell us," she said suspiciously. "You're not from Manticore, yet you run like the freaking wind. And you bashed that guard's head in. Pretty impressive for someone normal. If I do say so myself," Max concluded, surveying the girl's face.

Mary sighed. "I don't know how I did that. And I don't know why I can run so fast all of a sudden." Max merely looked at her skeptically. "Honestly, I don't know! Weird stuff has been happening lately. Like, see, I wear contact lenses normally. But a couple of months ago, I suddenly didn't need them. And stuff just got…easier. I don't know how, but something in me is changing me, slowly. That and…I just have a short temper lately. Stuff is just…aggravating." Alec and Max looked at her, speechless.

"Something must be responsible for it…What about you and Ben? Did something happen that might be causing this?" Max demanded.

"Like what?" Mary asked back, confused.

"Well, like…I…maybe…" Max stuttered.

"She has no idea," Alec said, smirking. "And honestly, neither do I. You've suddenly got X5 abilities, but you're not X5."

Max glared at him. "Okay, so I don't know, you don't know, no one knows…" she said angrily. "Let's move on to another question. Why exactly was Ben following you?"

Mary gulped and stared at the floor. "He wanted me to help him…"

"With what?" Max said, her voice still authoritative and demanding.

"He…He was confused. He was-" Mary began, but Alec interrupted her.

"Oh God, not you too!" He said, laughing. "'Poor Ben, he was so confused!' The guy was a freaking serial killer, for crying out loud!" Both Max and Mary glared at him. He continued laughing. Max smacked him, hard, and he stopped. "Owie…"

"But you're just a teenage girl. How could you possibly have helped him?" Max said doubtfully.  
"I don't know. Look, can we continue the interrogation later? I'm so tired right now, you have no idea!" She said, frustrated.

"Fine…But you have to stay here for a while, until this whole thing with White settles down," Max said. "There's empty bedrooms upstairs, take your pic."

"I have to stay here?" Mary groaned. Her eyes darted to where Joshua was sitting.

"Yeah, you'll be safe here…" Max got up, grabbing her back pack. "I'll be back later tonight." She got up and walked towards the door. Alec, too, got up and followed her.

"Oh, no!" She turned around, cocking an eyebrow at him. "You stay here."

"What?" Alec asked, his eyes round. "Why do I stay here?"

"I need you and Joshua to watch her," Max said, like it was obvious.

"But-" he complained.

"I'll pay you. Think of it as baby sitting," Max said, rolling her eyes.

"…How much?" Alec asked after a minute, raising an eyebrow.

"Enough." Max turned and left. Alec watched her leave before sighing and deciding that he, too, could use some rest. He wondered upstairs, crashing into the bed he normally used. He was dreaming before long.

_The girl was asleep, the covers of her bed pulled up to her shoulders. He slipped in as quietly as possible through the window, wondering if he was doing the right thing…_

_He didn't know if she was or not. She had said she would help people, she had said that, yes. And she looked so much like The Blue Lady. She was just innocent looking, but in a beautiful way. He sighed, unsure of whether he should wake her to ask for help…What if she didn't want to help him? What if he was undeserving? _

_His sigh seemed to disturb her, she jerked and her eyes opened quickly. She sat up, her hair falling into her face as she looked in his direction…_

_"Who are you?" She asked, her voice small and afraid. He didn't want to scare her. _

_"Mary…?" He had asked, because he was sure that was her name. Hadn't the man called her that? She said nothing, just gulped and he could see her hands shaking on the sheets of her bed._

_"That man…at the church. Michael. You said you'd help him," he said, and his voice came out harsher than he wanted it to. He took a step forward; the moonlight fell over his face. She seemed to calm down…_

Alec's eyes snapped open, as he finally managed to succeed in getting out of the dream. It wasn't his, he didn't want it, and now he didn't have to dream it. He turned over, punching his pillow with frustration. He couldn't even sleep now without these memories flooding his mind…

* * *

**(FLASHBACK)**

"Me?" Mary repeated doubtfully. "Why me?"

"Because!" Ben said stubbornly, jumping up to pace in front of her. "You said you'd help that guy, Michael! You said you'd help anyone, no matter how bad they were!"

"Yes…I said I'd help Michael with his drug problem," She said slowly. "But how do you want me to help you…?"

"I want you to help me to stop!" he said desperately, stopping his pacing about the room and looking at her, trembling.

"Stop what?"

"Stop! Stop wondering!" He yelled all of a sudden, angry. "Stop wondering why I'm here! Why they made me, why I have to kill! I…I don't understand any of it, and no one has the answers! Why didn't I deserve what other people-other kids-got?" He stopped, his eyes watering. "Why do I have this goddamn bar code on my neck like a fucking bag of chips from a supermarket? I hate thinking about it, I hate not knowing…not knowing what the hell I am, and having to wonder. That's what I want to stop!" He stopped, breathing heavily and shaking.

"Oh God…" she sighed, crossing her arms over her knees and resting her head against them… "Oh God, Ben…" He turned around, fighting to control his emotions.

"I don't know what you mean…I need to know more, because I know there is more for you to tell. But I'm so tired, right now, Ben…" She said quietly. She hadn't slept in so long, she wanted to collapse. "Please, just let me sleep…Let me get some rest and I can try, okay? I can try to listen and help you. Just let me get some rest." She looked at him, pleadingly, and he sighed, nodding.

The two of them left the room together in silence, stepping out of the church into the chilly night air. Ben had grabbed his jacket on the way out, and now Mary noticed the way he pulled the collar up around his neck.

"I'll be back here tomorrow," she said, touching his arm lightly. For the first time since they had met, his eyes weren't violent and stormy. They were clear, almost trusting.

"…You promise?" He said, a hint of a smile on his face.

"I promise," she replied earnestly. She saw him lick his lips nervously, as if doubting what she had said. "Ben, I'll be here." She repeated, louder, touching his face. He looked surprised at it, but didn't move away. "Good night." She took a step back, gave him a small smile, and walked away.

It was a short walk to her apartment, and she got there within fifteen minutes. She shut the front door with a click, turned around and leaned against it. She anticipated collapsing into her bed, and sleeping for hours…Yeah, that sounded pretty good. She threw her sweater onto the armchair and wandered across the room and into the hallway.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Roch standing in her bedroom, still wearing his coat.

"A goddamn felon, Mary…" He breathed slowly. "You are seeing him, aren't you? He's wanted by the cops, he's a criminal. And you're seeing him?" He turned around; the injustice and rage clear on his normally handsome face.

"Seeing him? You mean Ben?" Mary asked, confused. This just angered Roch more.

"'You mean Ben'? Yes I mean fucking Ben, who else would I mean!? I saw you, Mary, I saw you in front of the church with him!" Roch screamed furiously.

"You were following me?" She demanded, starting to get angry herself. "You have no right, Roch; we're not even together anymore!"

"No, we're not, because you were cheating on me with a criminal!" He roared, shoving her against the wall.

"I was not!" She screamed back, refusing to back down. "It's not like that! It's not like that at all, you dumbass!" That was too much for him, and he dragged her away from the wall again.

"It's not like that, huh? I saw you, you were touching him, don't lie to me Mary! You think I'm that stupid? You think you can lie to me?" Roch said.

"I'm not lying, I'm telling the truth, you're just to _stupid _to see that, you whack job!" Mary fought with him, digging her nails into his hands where he held her. He threw her back against the wall, and she hit it hard. She slumped to the floor, her head and shoulder throbbing with pain. He didn't let it go, though, he came over to her, propping her up against the wall again.

"I'm a whack job! I'm a whack job? Go to hell, Mary," he laughed at that, and raised his hand again. Mary didn't see exactly what happened next, but Roch didn't hit her. He had moved his fist to punch her, but his arm was caught. He somehow ended up flipping backwards, and he landed on his stomach on the floor, an "umph" exiting his mouth.

Ben circled around Roch to stand between him and Mary. The air was knocked out of Roch, and he slowly propped himself up on his hands. He looked to see who had flipped him over with such ease. His eyes landed on Ben, and he snarled.

"You!" He climbed to his feet, swinging with all his strength. Ben easily dodged his clumsy attempt at a punch, grabbing Roch's outstretched arm and pulling him forward. He brought his knee up hard into Roch's stomach before throwing him sideways into the opposite wall.

Mary watched in disbelief, because there was no way this was happening. Ben couldn't possibly move that fast, like a blur. And he couldn't have thrown Roch like that, clear across the room.

Roch had landed on his stomach again, and was groaning in pain. He pushed himself up to stand yet again. Ben paused, remembering the way Roch had twisted Mary's arm. He remembered the gasp of pain that had left her mouth. The bruises were on her face and a hand-shaped bruise one on her arm... With a snarl, he brought his foot up into Roch's chest, and Roch fell back onto the carpet.

Ben kneeled next to him, taking his head into his hands…

Mary realized what he was about to do. "BEN!" She screamed, alarmed. "No, Ben, you can't!"

He glared up at her, unsure of why she could possibly want this assholes life spared.

"You can't, Ben…please…" She was crying, on the verge of becoming hysteric. He dropped Roch's head, who continued to moan in some distant sort of pain. Ben stood, stepping over Roch. His foot came down on Roch's outstretched hand, and Mary thought she would be sick because of the audible cracking of bones. Roch screamed, his words uninterpretable. Ben stalked to the doorway but waited there, as if waiting for command.

Mary got hesitantly to her feet, walking in a daze to where he stood but watching all the time as Roch screamed in agony a steady stream of swear words. She didn't know where she was going, what she was doing. She just followed Ben out the door.

"I'll tell Mary! You goddamn slut, I'll tell the fucking police! They'll throw you both in jail!" Roch shrieked. Mary lost it. She laughed hysterically, unable to control herself, and turned back to see Roch.

"You'll tell the cops? Roch, _darling_…" She laughed even harder at that. "You're not really encouraging me to keep Ben from killing you…" She was breathing heavily, she felt like she might throw up, but still this was funny, wasn't it? This was insanely funny. Or maybe just insane. She couldn't stop that odd sort of laughing; only it had become a frantic sort of choking giggling that left her breathless and crying. Ben's mouth twitched in a way that might have been a grimace.

Either way, Roch's eyes were filled with fear, because he wasn't _that _stupid. He watched Mary leave with that fucking criminal right behind her. But yes, he would tell the cops. Oh yes and he would kill that stupid bitch, even if it was the last thing he did.

(END FLASHBACK)

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

The Blue Lady's Secrets

Chapter Four: The Blood

LATER

Max sat on the dirty linoleum floor of the broom closet. It was pitch black in the little room, but that didn't matter to her eyes. She watched as Alec, who was sitting opposite her, happily hummed a tune and tapped his foot. She glared at him, unable to believe that she was, yet again, hiding in a closet with him.

Max had only been joking when she told Alec that she would pay him for babysitting Mary. But now, two weeks later, Alec wanted payment. He had missed two whole weeks of work making sure Mary stayed in Joshua's house and out of public. It hadn't been a complete waste of time, though, because it had been sort of fun. He had done nothing but watch television and occasionally catch Mary when she attempted to sneak out. The look at that girl's face had been priceless when he had grabbed her by the foot and dragged her back in through the basement vent…

But Max had been unable to cough up the cash for it, so Alec had devised a plan to get his money…

It was a brilliant, original plan. Oh yes. It went something like this: 1.) Sneak into museum. 2.) Wait for guards to change shifts. 3.) Steal something expensive looking. 4.) Take it home and see how much it'll go for on Ebay. Yep, Alec's plan was pretty genius. And Max had agreed to help him as a way of paying him for the past two weeks.

Alec continued humming his tune despite the venomous looks he received from his companion. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and jumped up. She opened the door a crack and looked out.

The guards were still sitting at their desks. She shut the door again. "I thought you said they were switching shifts at ten!" She hissed.

"I _thought _they were," Alec said offhandedly. "Look, I know its hard sitting in this cramped, dark room… alone with me and all the sexual tension. But we just have to wait a little longer," He said persuasively, smirking up at her.

"Sexual tension?" She repeated angrily. "There is no sexual tension here, Alec…I just hate you."

"Oh come on, there's none at all? You know, back at Manticore-" he began. Max groaned.

"Don't make me remember that!"

"Back at Manticore," Alec continued stubbornly. "When we were _supposed_ to be mating partners…I definitely thought we had a connection."

"Are you trying to annoy me?!" Max said, louder than she had previously been talking. Alec pretended to think for a moment.

"Yes, actually, I am," he said, smiling wickedly. Max growled dangerously and smacked him hard on the head.

"Ow, Maxie, that hurt!" he complained. She laughed, and he attempted to grab her hands as she continued to smack him anywhere she could reach. "Hey-ow-stop that!-" The two of them struggled with each other, Alec desperately trying to protect himself and Max getting more violent by the minute.

The guards seemed to hear the noise they were making. "Hey, Joe, you hear that?" the older one said, sitting up in his chair and putting down his crossword puzzle. Max and Alec froze, exchanging accusing looks.

"Hear what?" the other one asked.

"Sounded like something down the hallway…" They heard the squeaking of a chair as someone stood up.

"Nah, it's probably just he janitor…" The second one said dismissively.

There were a couple seconds of silence. "Yeah, probably." The chair squeaked again as the guard sat down. Max looked back at Alec angrily, but sat back down across from him. He rubbed his shoulder, where a bruise was forming from Max's fist, and stared, pouting, at the floor.

A couple more minutes passed. He began humming again, but Max quickly kicked his foot with hers. He frowned, kicking back at her.

She sighed, setting her head against the wall and praying for the guards to change shifts soon…

* * *

"I do not need excuses, Amos. I need you to find that girl, Mary, you called her… and bring her to me," the elder said hoarsely to White, his silver eyes showing his impatience.

White nervously tried to explain to him how hard he was trying, but was again interrupted.

"You do not understand the full magnitude of the situation!" the elder rasped, aggravated. "Our people have been selectively reproducing, cleansing the blood lines, for tens of thousands of years! We have been trying, since time itself began, to create this…this…perfect human being! Only she will be tolerable to the ritual!" White said nothing. He knew how long the breeding cult he belonged to had been trying to create a perfect being. It was pure luck that while hunting down potential transgenics, he had stumbled across the girl who might be that perfect being.

The elder continued. "If she is indeed as…_talented_ as you say, but isn't one of those mutant filth, then it is quite likely-" he paused, moistening his dry, cracked lips. "Quite likely that she is who we've been looking for. All this time, she existed…Just waiting to be discovered. And she does, indeed, need to be discovered. She is our only weapon against that…that mutant scum, 452." It was clear when he said the number how much he despised this 452. It was also clear how excited he was at getting his hands on the girl who would stop her.

White merely nodded, keeping his eyes on the dirt floor. He knew there was a prophecy…It was common knowledge among the cult. 452 would save the weak, the worthless humans that inhabited the earth. Or she would be stopped by an older sort of knowledge, reincarnated…He was finally dismissed, and he stumbled through the dark corridors of the school. He had taken his position, as leader of the group hunting the transgenics, as a way to eliminate competition for the cult. But now… Now it had come down to this Mary. If she really was the perfect human the elders thought she was, then she would be the deciding factor. If they had her, they could beat 452, and the transgenics…But if Max had her…

* * *

Alec returned to Joshua's house with Max, triumphantly setting the black bag down onto the couch. It had several sculptures in it that they had taken from the museum, along with what resembled a melted toilet. The sign underneath it had read: "Modern Art: Igor Ranchovic, 2007. 'A la comode'."

Max had tried to convince Alec to leave it behind, because they might not have enough time to bypass another security system before the new guards showed up. But he couldn't help himself. A melted toilet? Ha.

Now, Max watched as Alec logged onto the internet, hurriedly typing in the names of the artwork he had stolen.

Rolling her eyes, she left the house to go see Logan. Alec posted his finds on the internet, and logged back off. He then went upstairs and told Joshua that he was going out. He figured he'd stop by Crash and have a few drinks…Maybe make some cash beating poor, unknowing sobs at pool.

He had walked several blocks along the city streets before he got the strange sensation that he was being followed. He paused, and grinned to himself when the footsteps behind him stopped a millisecond later. He started walking again, and again the footsteps started. Laughing, he turned around.

As expected, Mary was several dozen feet behind him. She haughtily placed a hand on her hip and called "What are you laughing about, smart ass?"

"You're not supposed to be out," Alec said, walking towards her and shaking his head. "Max would be _pissed_," he lectured, accentuating the last word.

"So? She's not gonna know unless you tell her!" Mary said hopefully, looking up at him and making him feel guilty. "I've been sitting in that moldy, old, flea infested house for two weeks! I just need to get out, breathe fresh air…do something, see people… and not wolf people!"

"Technically, Joshua's half dog, not half wolf…But I see your point," Alec said slowly. "Still, it's just not a good idea…" She frowned, and he was annoyed by how much that bothered him. Goddamnit, why should he care if she was upset! She was just some whiny teenage girl… why were his emotions suddenly going haywire?

Mary wasn't giving up so easily, though. She walked the remainder of the way up to him, sticking her bottom lip out and batting her eyes in the most ridiculously overdone display of puppy-dog eyes Alec had ever seen. He had to admit, though, it was kind of cute.

"Oh come on, don't make me get in trouble for you," he pleaded. "If you get caught, Max is gonna kick my ass. Not yours."

"I won't get caught, Alec! I promise!" She said honestly, touching his arm. It triggered something in Alec's mind, something he didn't quite understand.

_"I promise," she had told him, and he wanted to believe her, badly. But what if she was lying? So many people lied. He licked his lips uncertainly. _

_"Ben, I'll be here," she said louder. She reached up and touched his face. It was a strange touch…He had always been touched by someone either because he had done something wrong, and was being punished, or because of some other practical reason…What was the reason for this? _

_"Good night," She whispered, the warmth of her hand leaving his face. _

"Alec?" Mary repeated uncertainly. One second he had been talking to her, the next he had zoned out…His eyes had the glazed quality of someone caught in a day dream. "Alec!"

He blinked quickly, looking back at her. "Oh…Sorry, I must've zoned out…" She rolled her eyes impatiently.

"So can I come?"

He sighed. "Fine. But only for a little bit and then I'm bringing you back here. And you're not to leave my sight!" he ordered parentally. She laughed and bounced ahead of him.

"Freee! Free, I'm freee!" she sang ridiculously, twirling around like a bizarre ballerina through the puddles on the ground. He walked behind her, watching with amusement as she danced along the sidewalk.

* * *

"Sir! Sir, I've found something!" the excited voice called above the other, whispering voices in White's office. White turned around, giving the man who had spoken a sour look.

"Oh, you have, huh? This better be good," He snapped angrily. The man was young, nervous looking. He held out a large black and white photo for White to look at.

"It was taken just this evening, Sir! That's the girl, isn't it?" He asked anxiously. "Suspect 574? Mary?"

"Yes…" White said slowly. The girl was bouncing on the sidewalk in the picture, and the man behind her was familiar…X5 494, he realized. One of 452's companions. "Where did they go after this picture was taken?" he demanded.

"A bar in town, Sir, called Crash. They were there 37 minutes before leaving and returning to a house twelve blocks away," The man replied hastily.

"Give me the address of the house and round up our twelve best men. And I mean best," White said quickly. Several of the men on his team also belonged to his breeding cult, and they were the only ones qualified to handle X series transgenics.

Ten minutes later, his team was assembled and they left.

* * *

**(FLASHBACK)**

Ben shut the door behind her, and Mary looked around the small, cramped room. It was one of many of Ben's hideouts, all of which were scattered around town. Without a word, she sat on the tattered couch and looked up at him, waiting for him to tell her everything.

And so he did. He told her everything and anything he knew, his voice low and fast as he hurried to explain it to her. He explained how the children were created by Manticore's labs to be faster, stronger, soldiers. He told about the mixed DNA, the training, the dorms…Ben could tell by her expression that she was finding it hard to believe, but he couldn't stop talking now. He went on, telling her how horrible the nightmares were, and the seizures and what they did to the bad children, the bad soldiers…He told her about the escape he had made with his unit, about living in the real world and the unbelievable shock it had been.

Somehow he needed for someone to know, and he needed to see the astonishment on their face to know he wasn't the only one confused.

After a while, there wasn't any more to tell though, and he fell quiet. Mary was staring at the floor, and he hesitantly said her name. Her eyes jerked up to his. They were filled with tears.

"The first time I saw you, Ben, you said you were made to kill…And that is bullshit. Sure, it's easier for you... A lot easier. But that doesn't mean you can't stop," She said quietly. "…And you asked me what you are. You're a person…Maybe not the way most people would think. But you think, you feel, you have wants and needs just like anyone. You're a_ person_, Ben... I can't explain to you why they did this…They wanted better soldiers, because they wanted war, money, power. That's what everything in this world revolves around." The tears had filled her eyes and spilled over by now. "But you're not there anymore…at Manticore. You can have what other people have now. You can make it better. But you can't kill! You can't do that, Ben. If you do that, you're no better than an animal! No better than that bar code on your neck! Do you understand me?"

Ben stared blankly at a spot on the couch, her words sinking into his mind. Finally, he gave the smallest of nods before hiding his face in his hands.

"Back at the apartment, you were going to kill Roch-" Mary began again, but he cut her off.

"He hurt you!" He said defensively. "And he was going to hurt you again!"

"And you stopped him, I know. I'm grateful for that…" She said cautiously. "You hurt him back, and even that's okay. I don't care, he deserved it. But you can't kill him…"

"He deserved to get hurt, yeah. And he deserved worse," Ben hissed darkly.

Mary let out a shaking sigh. "No. No one deserves to die, because everyone has a right to try to live their life. No matter how bad they are. You came to me…You told me you were a murderer. But I'm trying to help you anyway, because you're more than that. And you deserve to live. The same thing goes for Roch. You know?" She looked at him hopefully, pleadingly, wanting him to see. He had to see, he couldn't keep his narrow view of things.

"I know," He said softly, again putting his face into his hands so she wouldn't see him crying. He had wanted someone to listen for so long, someone to tell him he deserved more… and now she was here. But she didn't like what he had done, and she made his guilt worse. Did he really deserve more? Maybe he was just a killing machine, programmed for it and useless without it. Maybe he shouldn't live if he couldn't stop, he thought.

Mary got up from the couch, walking over to sit besides Ben. She knew now why he had come to her. He had been looking for his Blue Lady…What had started out as a symbol of God, religion, and faith had turned into an object of comfort, protection, and trust. She supposed she should be alarmed by the attachment he formed to her. But she wasn't.

She circled her arms around his waist, laying her head against his shoulder. She felt his body jerk slightly with each sob, and she knew he was really crying now. She closed her eyes, crying with him.

(END FLASHBACK)

* * *

Mary awoke to the sound of yelling. At least, she thought someone had yelled her name…There was scuffling noise on the other side of her bedroom door.

She jumped to her feet, the muscles in her body tightening on their own. She felt her temper flare up, and again recognized that problem in her…She had felt it in the past few weeks, especially when she had killed that policeman. She had lost control.

Now Mary walked to the door, pausing before she got to it to listen. She heard nothing more. Hesitantly, she reached out her hand to grab the doorknob…

Before her hand even reached it, however, it swung open. She barely had time to react before she felt a pinch in her leg. Looking down, she saw the needle.

She thought, 'Oh God, not another one of those damn tranquilizers' before her knees fell out from under her. Two men in suits grabbed her, dragging her into the hallway. It was filled with maybe a dozen men, some of them holding guns. She recognized one of them as the man who had first chased her, the one from the grocery store…

Two of them were lying, unconscious or worse, on the floor. Alec was also lying face down on the floor, a thin river of blood coming away from his head. She tried to scream, but that damn tranquilizer was so strong… Her throat felt like it was glued shut. She wanted to help him, to see if he was okay, but all she could do was stare as the men dragged her backwards.

"Sir, what do I do with this one?" A brunette man asked, his tie askew and his eye swelling. He motioned to Alec's unconscious form.

"Shoot him," White replied, like it was obvious. "But make sure one shot does it, don't waste bullets."

The man nodded, taking out his hand gun. Mary's eyes widened in a panic, and she tried again to move or make a noise. But all she managed to do was produce a choking noise. He pointed the gun at the back of Alec's head, frowning slightly.

The door to his right flew off the hinges. A livid Joshua was standing there, Max behind him. Joshua had been secured in the room, but obviously Max had gotten him loose. One look at the man pointing a gun at Alec, and Joshua lost it. He roared, his fangs bared, and the man went flying through the hallway wall.

"I was expecting this," White sneered to the men holding Mary. "Take her, get her out of here! The elders will know what to do!" They did as instructed. Mary was now slipping out of consciousness, only seeing some of the fighting going on between Max and Joshua and the cult members.

She could dimly remember being thrown in a van…

* * *

There was a clear tube in her arm and the blood was running out of her…She moaned aloud at the sight of it, her blood in that tube…

Her head fell back against the wooden pole behind her, she was sore all over but mostly her wrists hurt…They burned, and when she tried to move them something cut into her flesh…

Her blood, she thought, panicking, was it still running out of her? She tried to look but someone jerked her head back, hard, and she was staring at silver eyes…Cruel silver eyes and the words around her were foreign to her. The voices buzzed around her, getting louder, their words strange and scary, but then dying down again…

The silver eyes danced in front of her blurry vision, and she could only think that they were taking her blood…She'd die, she'd die here now. She became aware of her feet only when something moved over top of them…A scaly something slithered over her bare feet, and she was jerking all over now with convulsions.

Something pricked into her arm, deep, and her entire arm was on fire now…


	5. Chapter 5

The Blue Lady's Secrets

Chapter Five: The Heiress

"Alec…Alec, please wake up…" A small voice, Max's, drifted through his mind; but that voice didn't really matter…what mattered was what he was seeing. Where he was right now… Stuck in someone else's mind, someone else's memory, but also in the past…

_He sat in the small, dark room, staring adoringly at the girl beside him. He wasn't sure, but he knew somehow he had been crying…_

Alec's eyes fluttered as Max tried to wake him, but the memory was too strong to pull him out of.

_He recognized the girl as Mary, but he was confused. Where was he? What was going on? She was asleep, he couldn't ask her... He didn't understand the overpowering emotion he felt. What…The Blue Lady? Why did he love her, Mary, the blue lady? There was the noise of hurried footsteps in the corridor outside of the room, and he knew that it was an intruder. He felt an overwhelming anger at the thought of her sleep being disturbed, of him being chased away from her again… _

_But he woke her all the same, putting his hand over her mouth to muffle her voice. He held a finger to his lips, be quiet…she had to be quiet. She nodded, afraid. He never meant to make her afraid. He pulled her up from where she was sitting, pulled her over to the window. The footsteps had stopped in front of the door as he opened the window. _

_A loud, impatient knock came, but he ignored it and pulled Mary out onto the fire escape. They climbed down together, stepping onto the wet pavement as the person busted the door open. _

_He pushed her back, against the brick wall and out of sight. _

_"Ben?" She whispered, confused. Ben? He wasn't Ben, he was Alec. Why did she think he was Ben…? But the name fit him, it was him, and that was the strangest. He was Ben. But then how could he be remembering this…? Alec was struck with the sudden alarming realization that he didn't know who the hell he was._

_He couldn't think now, however, because they were running. They were running so fast, and he was determined. They wouldn't stop him now, not now that he had his Blue Lady. _

_Oh no. They wouldn't stop him now. _

Water spilled over Alec's face, and he was forcefully ripped from the dream. He spluttered, and Max's worried face swam above him.

"Awake yet?" She asked. Asha's blurry face appeared also.

"Wo, you got the shit kicked out of you…" she said in awe.

"Yeah, well, let's get you in a fight where it's twelve against one and we'll see how badly you get beat up," he snapped, holding his aching head. The side of his forehead was sticky, and he pulled his hand away to see blood.

"Must've hit your head when you went down…" Max brushed his hand away and pushed on the cut with a towel to stop the bleeding. "It's not too bad; you're just really bruised up."

"Yeah…How's Josh?" Alec asked.

"He's fine. We're all fine. Once they got Mary, they left in a hurry…" She answered dismissively. Alec tried to sit up, and winced at the grinding pain in his side.

Max pushed him back down. "We're going to have to take you to a hospital or something. You need x-rays, to see if you've broken any bones, or worse." He closed his eyes and nodded.

"Well, on the bright side," Asha said cheerfully. "You managed to take down two of their guys. Once they wake up, we might be able to find out where they took Mary."

"_If_ they wake up," Logan's grumpy voice called from somewhere in the house. Alec ignored that, thinking about what had happened…He and Mary must have been spotted going to Crash, he decided. Guilt squirmed in him, as he realized this was his fault.

"Hey Max…" He said softly. "I let her go to Crash with me. That's how they knew she was here…" Max said nothing. "…I'm sorry." She blinked at him, and Alec winced, expecting the worst of her anger.

She didn't say anything, however. She removed the towel from his head and put a bandage over it. "Did you hear me, Max? I just told you this is my fault!" He said in disbelief, grabbing her hand away from his forehead.

"Yes, I heard you!" She snapped all of a sudden. "What do you want me to say? It's too late now to say anything! They found her, she's gone, and I don't care whose fault it is! Now we just have to get her back. _You _and me have to get her back." Alec dropped her hand, surprised that she wasn't going to beat his ass for letting White find them.

"Uh….okay," he said finally. After a while, Asha and Logan took him to the hospital where Logan's friend worked. He sat silently in the waiting room, thinking over the dream he had had while passed out… He knew for sure he was Alec now. But during the dream, he had been confused. He had almost felt like Ben.

Alec seriously wished Ben's memories about Mary would stop creeping up on him every time he closed his eyes.

"Master…you called for me?" White kneeled in front of the elder nervously.

"Yes, Amos…I decided you would be the first to hear," He said calmly, but his blazing silver eyes showed his excitement. "She has survived. We at first doubted whether she would, around midnight we thought we almost lost her. But she is alive, and better, now."

"And the ritual…?" White asked, barely believing his ears.

"It was a success. Just as we thought, she is the perfect being for the ritual… Her blood is…magnificent!" He croaked wickedly. "It acts almost like a bond…between her own cells and foreign cells. We think that at some point, one of those transgenic's blood must have gotten into her veins, somehow. Only, instead of being filtered out by her body's immune system, it bonded with her cells…"

White nodded eagerly and the elder continued. "So, we assumed that if the transgenic's blood could bond with hers, it must be her blood is somewhat…receptive. The Heiress's blood has been introduced to her through the ritual, and hopefully, it will act the same way the transgenic's blood did. It will grow inside of her along with her own cells, until she receives the same talents the Heiress once had. And hopefully, the same knowledge."

"If this is the case, then," White asked doubtfully. "Soon the girl will _have_ the Heiress inside of her. Won't she be aware of it?"

"I believe not. Not until the time is right for the Heiress to act…Not until the final battle with 452. So now, Amos, we must release the girl. Our work is done. All we can do is wait; wait for the time when all will be determined."

"But what should I do with her?" White questioned.

"It does not matter, now. In fact, it would be best if she rejoins 452. That way, she will be in the best position for when the Heiress takes over. Yes….that would be best…" White nodded uncertainly and left the elder to his thoughts.

* * *

Mary awoke, her entire body screaming in agony. She was lying on concrete, which didn't help at all, and her vision was dark. She felt soaking wet all over, because it was too hot, her body was burning up and she was so thirsty…

Finally, she realized where she was. She was in front of the church. It was early morning, the sun was barely up, and the sidewalk was deserted. She stumbled to her feet, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.

She slowly climbed the stairs, gripping the hand rail tightly because she was afraid her legs would fail her and she would fall.

Mary pushed on the door, but it was heavy and she was weak. She pushed again, and it creaked open.

It seemed to take forever to walk down to the front of the large room, but finally she got there and dropped to her knees, exhausted. She stared up in wonder at the huge, beautiful statue of Mary, mother of Jesus, in front of her. Tears streamed out of her eyes, and she didn't bother trying to blink them back.

This was where Ben had been, that night she had gone looking for him… That same night he had stepped out of the shadows in her bedroom, apologizing to her. He was so convinced she would save him, help him… But she had just been a teenage girl. She wasn't anything. And she certainly wasn't his savior.

She shuffled forward on her knees, sobbing with the pain in her body. Great spasms of it rolled through her, and she just wanted to sleep forever…

She laid down below the statue, wrapping her arms around herself. She tried to remember why he had picked her to trust, but she couldn't. She just wanted him there, she wanted him to sit next to her while she slept, just like last time…

Everything had been normal until he showed up. And then it had spiraled out of control, more and more problems all because of him. And now he had left her, alone and scared with men hunting her and she didn't know why…

"Ben…" She moaned, crying pathetically. "…I hate you," she hissed, trying to convince herself it was true. But it wasn't, she didn't hate him. She passed out, part from exhaustion, part from pain, and she dreamt about snakes wrapping around her. There slimy scales passed over her skin, and they coiled around her neck and choked her.

* * *

**(FLASHBACK)**

They ran away from the cops, away from the men from Manticore, away from them all… Mary was struggling to keep up with Ben, and he forced himself to slow down his pace for her. The feeling of her hand in his made his determination all the stronger.

He had found her, after searching for years. There was no fucking way they'd take her away from him now. He wouldn't let them. They darted down alleys, and all the while he knew he had to make it to the subway. If they could just get to the damn subway…

The sound of police sirens was wailing from a street near by, but they had made it to the staircase downwards. He tugged her down the steps, into the underground station. The train was there, and about to leave, as they struggled through the crowd. They were almost to the open doors when a gunshot rang out, deafening and clear, from behind them.

Ben turned, and saw the man with the gun. He was definitely not a cop. Lydecker's…?

The train was pulling away, and he jumped onto it, pulling Mary on it as well. He jerked her out of the doorway and out of sight, hoping that Lydecker's men would not make it through the crowd in time to board the train. She clung to the front of his shirt, her hands trembling as she stared in the direction of the men. He tried to lead her farther into the car and the crowd, away from the doors. The train was moving fast now, within seconds they would be in the tunnel and away from the men…

"Mary! Mary, we want to help you!" A familiar voice shouted. Her eyes widened in surprise, she moved… He yelled at her to stop, and pulled her back, but it was too late. The noise of a second gunshot exploded right as the station platform disappeared from view.

(END FLASHBACK)

* * *

Alec grimaced at the dull ache in his side, but continued walking down the sidewalk anyway. Those painkillers the doctor had given him really weren't enough… Granted, the doc _had_ warned him to stay in bed for a while, and now he was out stalking the streets in the small hope he might somehow find Mary… That might be why his ribs were hurting so bad…

Alec didn't care though. It made him feel better to be out, doing something, instead of lying in a bed while Max interrogated White's men. So far, his men had given up little information. And Alec seriously doubted they would give any more.

So now here he was, walking down 108th street in hopes there might be a bright neon sign flashing: **MARY IS HERE! **or something equally obvious. It was Alec's fault, whatever was happening to her right now. If she wound up hurt, or dead, it would be his fault…

He paused suddenly, and he didn't know why. His legs just ceased their movement and it was almost like something had jerked him to a stop. He looked up, and ahead of him saw a large, impressive church with stained glass windows. That church felt strangely familiar…

_The two of them stepped out of the church together, neither speaking a word. It was chilly out, and Mary's breathe rose in front of her face… _

_Ben jerked the collar on his jacket up around his neck, glancing at the darkened street. _

_"I'll be back here tomorrow," she said, looking up at his nervous, doubtful face._

Alec shivered, and he started walking towards the church. Well, if he was going to be haunted by Ben's recollections, at least they were somewhat helpful.

'So this church is where Mary and Ben hung out together, huh…?' Alec thought. He knew Ben used to make sacrifices in churches after he killed someone…Maybe that's how they met…Alec could just imagine it. Ben, putting bloody teeth in front of an altar devoted to his Blue Lady. Mary, saying how charming it was that he would rip someone's teeth out for the virgin mother. 'Hey, how about we go get a cup of coffee and then later I can kill some more people?' Ben would say. 'Sure, I just love cute serial killers' Mary would reply.

"Nice first date," Alec said aloud, laughing. He honestly didn't understand how Mary had known Ben, or how the hell she had gotten X5 abilities…

Alec had gotten to the church, however, and he climbed the stairs. The door on the right was already slightly ajar, and he pushed it open the rest of the way.

He narrowed his eyes, because he somehow knew that this was definitely where Ben had first seen Mary. Alec walked down to the front, feeling like he was just retracing Ben's footsteps.

And then he realized who had left the front door open a bit. Mary. Alec stood for a moment, his mouth hung open in surprise as he stared at her, lying on the carpet.

There hadn't been a flashing neon light to tell him where she was, after all. But he had still found her. He raced over to her, kneeling beside her and turning her over. He felt for her pulse, and found it easily in the tender part of her neck.

This was unbelievable. How could he have found her that easily? Here, alive, in the church? No way. Alec looked her over and realized she was in bad shape.

There were swollen, raw rings around her wrists where she had been restrained. All along her forearm were dozens of small, red needle pricks where she had been injected with something… She was bruised and dirty, but she was alive.

He couldn't stop himself, because the urge to do so was too strong, so he gently lifted her. He sat down, pulling her into his lap and brushing the knotted hair out of her face. Alec gulped, because he was now experiencing how infatuated Ben had been with her… It was surreal, the emotions coursing through him. He cursed Ben, cursed Mary, cursed himself, and lastly cursed Manticore for making him the twin of a nutcase.

His fingertips on her face must have woken her, because she gazed up at him. She swallowed, her throat sore, and asked "Ben?"

Alec thought for a moment, because he certainly felt like Ben right now… He loved her, but in a strangely innocent way. He didn't know what was going on, he forgot all about Manticore and Max and all of the past events…He just knew he was sitting there, and she was in his arms and saying his name.

He nodded, though he wasn't sure if that was him…It had to be him…She smiled weakly, laying her head against his hand and closing her eyes again. He wasn't sure how long he sat there, but it didn't matter.

"Alec?" A voice demanded from the front of the church. Alec? No, he was Ben, wasn't he…?

"Alec! What the hell are you doing here, I thought-" Max stopped what she was saying when she saw Mary in his arms. "Holy shit…" He looked from Max's shocked face to Mary's, and back again, and everything rushed back to him. He had found the girl after White's men had taken her…They had taken her because he had let her go to Crash with him…

He took a deep breathe, and softly put her back down on the ground. He stood up, stepping back from her and shaking his head.

"There, I found her for you…I found her and…And I don't want..." Alec stuttered uncertainly, shaking his head even more violently. "I don't want anything more to do with her…I can't take this. It's too weird. I mean, I thought I was him, I…I thought I was him!" Alec started laughing, scared, and Max merely stared at him.

"You what?"

"I thought I was Ben! I keep…I keep remembering things! But they aren't mine. They're his…I can't be around her anymore, okay? I-I'm sorry," Alec turned and practically ran from the church. He kept slowed down once he was several blocks away from the place, panting and trying to calm down. He had lost all sense of self, and that wasn't going to happen again. Hell no.

He would refuse to be around her again. He would have to refuse, because he liked being Alec. He liked it a lot. He didn't want to be taken over by someone else…Someone else that was dead.

He started running again; convinced this was just another one of his horrible nightmares. He ran and didn't even realize the intense pain in his side, didn't even realize when he arrived back at Joshua's.

"I'm Alec. I'm Alec. I'm ALEC GODDAMNIT!" he repeated aloud to himself, and that and his footsteps formed a rhythm he ran to.


End file.
